Sport in Georgeland
A variety of different sports are practised and enjoyed in Georgeland. While the country has no official national sport, soccer (referred to as 'football'), cricket and rugby draw large crowds and are considered the country's most popular sports. Soccer is by far the largest and most popular sport in Georgeland, and the Georgeland Football Association is responsible for the sport's management. Other popular team sports include basketball, field hockey, lacrosse and softball. Popular individual sports include auto racing, boxing, golf, horse racing, swimming, tennis and track and field. Water sports of both team and individual varieties are also popular due to Georgeland's maritime culture. The Georgeland Sporting Hall of Fame honours individual and team achievement in sport. Team sports Basketball Basketball was probably introduced to Georgeland by North American immigrants in the early 1920s. The earliest recorded game was a demonstration, amateur match held between two teams in Doubledance in 1929. The sport was not popular in Georgeland for many years but today is one of the more popular spectator sports. The first organised leagues began as amateur competitions after the Second World War and the first professional leagues began about twenty years later. Georgeland Basketball is now the governing body for the sport, which has fourteen professional teams as outlined below. Both men and women's basketball are popular sports. There are eight mens' teams and six womens'. Men's League *Topstad Stormdancers *Zigit Roughriders *Weston Coyotes *Bradmarch Blues *Scoitan Irish *Long Island Cats *Doubledance Demons *Capitalian Fever Women's League *West Coast Stingers *Scoitan Amazons *Bradmarch Suns *East Coast Hawks *Lylecity Rollers *Capital Comets Cricket :Full article: Georgeland Cricket Council Arguably Georgeland's second-most popular sport, cricket has a large, enthusiastic following in Georgeland. The sport came to Georgeland very early in its history. Matches are thought to have been played in Georgetown in the 1770s, in the very early stages of colonisation. By 1850, an organised, if amateur, league had sprung up across Mainland, and most schools and universities played the game and taught it to schoolchildren. Cricket very rapidly became a ''de facto national sport, despite Georgeland remaining a colony of the United Kingdom. In 1882, while still a colony, Georgeland played its first 'international' match against another colonial team from Australia. The two countries have remained cricketing rivals ever since. Georgeland continued to play in international matches from its independence in 1891. With the formation of the International Cricket Council in 1909, Georgeland became a founding member and has remained as a test-playing nation ever since. Georgeland played its first One Day International match in 1973, against India, losing by 35 runs. Georgeland has played more than 300 international matches since, most regularly against Australia and England. Georgeland's national cricket side has suffered from a poor reputation since the mid-1980s, when retiring captain and batsman Peter Kettler described the "First Law of Cricket" as "Georgeland Always Loses". However, in recent years the country's international performance has improved. Georgeland also has an inter-state league, with all eight of Georgeland's states and territories having its own team. There are numerous local competitions and the sport is still played regularly among schools and universities. Georgeland's two most prominent and largest cricket grounds are Weston Park Arena in Santa Christina and the Topstad Capital Stadium. Field Hockey Lacrosse Rugby Soccer Softball Individual sports Athletics Boxing Golf Horse Racing Swimming Tennis Water sports International Competition Olympic Games Georgeland has participated in every Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics which was boycotted as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The most medals won at a single Olympiad by the Georgeland team was at Los Angeles 1984, when the team won 31 medals, eleven of them gold. This is also the most gold medals the team has ever won. Georgeland's most successful Olympians are swimmers Nancy Hughes and Simon Dunn, with five gold medals each. Commonwealth Games Georgeland has participated in the Commonwealth Games since 1962 - prior to this, Georgeland was not a member of the Commonwealth and was not eligible to participate. Georgeland has been moderately successful in Commonwealth competition but remains, as of 2008, the largest Commonwealth country to have never been chosen to host the Games (India, the largest Commonwealth nation, will host for the first time in 2010). Georgeland's most successful Commonwealth Games were in Auckland in 1990, when the team won 23 medals, 14 of them Gold. Governance Media Category:Culture Category:Georgeland